Improvement in printed carpets



NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS OROSSLEY, OF ROXBURY, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT IN PRlNTED CARPETS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 9,935, dated August 16, 1853.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Tnonns OROssLEY, of Roxbury, in the county of Norfolk and State of Massachusetts, haveinvented a new and use ful Improvement in the Manufacture of Carpets; and I do hereby declare that the same is fully and clearly set forth in the following specification.

In the manufacture of single-ply carpets or other fabrics it has heretofore been found impracticable to print upon more than one side, the colors invariably passing through to the opposite side, disfiguring the fabric to an extent which precludes the printing upon the opposite side of thesame or any other figure.

Inthe course of the year 1851 I made the discovery that a two ply carpet might be woven of uncolored yarn ingrained to any extent and afterward stamped or printed in colors upon both sides, neither of the figures passing through to the other side or interferingin the least with the other figure. For this discovery and for the new article of manufacture which was thus produced, I received Letters Patent of the United States bearing datethe 16th dayofMarch,l852. Ihavesince,however, made the further discovery that a single-ply carpet of the peculiar character which I shall hereinafter describe may also be printed upon both sides with the same or different figures, thereby producing an entirely new article of manufacture-"la, a single-ply printed fabric with a perfect figure upon each side.

I am also enabled by making use of the fabric above mentioned to print any desired figure upon one side of the carpet, while the other side remains entirely uncolored and undisfigured by the penetration of the coloring- -matter from the other side, or by making the ground'of my carpet of any light color over which heavier colors for the figure are laid, and by printing upon one side I am enabled to produce a carpet figured upon one side and having a uniform light or red ground upon the other, and thus a variety of effects never before accomplished in printed fabrics is attained.

The process by which my carpet is produced may be described as follows: I take strong, stout cotton or other twine for the warp. This is stretched tightly in the loom, so as just to yield sufficiently to allow the necessary motion of the harness. Over this is then thrown uncolored woolen filling where the carpet is to be printed on one or both sides; or the filling may be of some light color over which the fignre is printed in heavier colors; or the fabric may be woven of uncolored filling and printed upon one side where a uniform white color is desired upon the other. The fillingis beat up very hard over the stretched warps, and the latter are thus entirely concealed from view, while they serve to prevent the passage of the coloring-matter from one side of the carpet to the other and greatly increase the strength of the carpet. The fabric thus produced is then printed upon one or both sides, as above described, anda carpet is produced having all the strength due to the heavy cotton warp, which is entirely concealed between two surfaces of woolen, and all the beauty upon both of its surfaces due to the presentimproved methods of printing, while in body it is heavier and must prove more durable than the ordinary two-ply or Brussels carpets, while its cost is far below that of either of these articles.

With regard to the manner in which the carpet is woven preparatory to printing, I will remark that I am not aware that any such fabric has been woven before, whether it be in the manufacture of carpets or other goods. The advantages resulting from its use are many, independent of its great economy in, comparison with any other woolen carpet of equal body and beauty, the heavy ground-warp en abling meto beat up much closer than can be accomplished in any other carpet with which 1 am acquainted, and giving unusual strength in the direction of the length, while the large amount of woolen filling beatin results in equal strength across the fabric.

I am aware that carpets and woolen fabrics of various descriptions have been stamped and printed upon one side, the other invariably being disfigured by the operation, and also that two and three ply carpets have been printed with the same or different figures upon the two sides, as I have myselfreceived a patent for a carpet so produced, as before stated. I therefore now lay claim to none of these processes. Neither is it my intention at present to found any claim upon the method in which I weave my carpet; but

\Vhat I do claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, as a new article of manufacture, is-

A single-ply printed carpet made by combining the warps and filling in the mannerdescribed, and subsequently printing them on one or both sides, I having discovered that fabrics Woven in this manner could be printed on one or both sides without the colors passing through and discoloring or interiningling with the colors on the opposite side of the fabric.

THOMAS OROSSLEY.

Witnesses:

J. S. GLOW, SAM. COOPER. 

